Later
by watty94
Summary: Tony and Ziva begin a conversation in the collapsed elevator that they vow to finish later. Short and sweet, with a happy ending.
1. Chapter 1

**So I decided to have a go at writing a post-finale elevator fic. It ended up being longer than expected but was done for the tumblr bet about what the promised Tony x Ziva scene is going to be in the lift.**

**My bet: **A 5000+ word Tiva one-shot centred on a word/object/feeling etc. of the winner's choice.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own these characters I'm just borrowing them and promise to put them back (relatively) unharmed.

Ziva was the first one to move. Having landed on top of Tony she had avoided hitting her head on anything too hard and, miraculously, the falling debris had not struck her hard enough to knock her out. That being said there were obviously some injuries, especially to her right arm which she had thrown out in an attempt to protect herself. Wincing slightly she attempted to push herself up a little but fell back with a realisation that her arm was definitely sprained and probably broken. Taking note of this she tried again to push the bulk of her weight off of Tony this time succeeding. It took her another couple of minutes to finish assessing her injuries (bruised ribs, lots of cuts and bruises on her lower legs, and a large bruise on her back where a particularly nasty piece of debris had stuck her) and as soon as she had finished deciding that they were nothing to worry about she turned her attention to her partner.

Unlike Ziva, Tony seemed to be unconscious as he had not moved or made any sound since they had been trapped 7 minutes and 42 seconds ago- not that Ziva was counting of course. His position, along with the way he had fallen did suggest a head injury as he fell rather hard against the door so Ziva was almost expecting this. She ensured that he was breathing normally before assessing the extent of his injuries. Apart from the obvious bump to the head, there were a few cuts around his feet and he would also have some bruising around his ribs as she had thrown herself on him rather forcefully but apart from that he seemed fine. Ziva's attempts to rouse him proved to be fruitless so she started looking for a way out of the elevator. This also proved fruitless; the doors were stuck, she had no signal and she was in no condition to clamber all over shaft, so all she could do was sit back, grip Tony's hand and wait for their eventual rescue, or Tony to regain consciousness- whichever came first.

18 minutes and 4 seconds later (she still wasn't counting) Ziva felt Tony's fingers where she was holding them twitch. She tightened her grip before calling his name and waiting for a response. Tony groaned slightly and she took this as her cue to let go of his hand and get into a better position in order to wake him fully.

"Tony," she called softly, thinking that he would probably have a headache, while gently squeezing his shoulders.

"Mmmmfffff," he mumbled, "Who's idea was it to take the elevator?" Despite the precarious situation the pair was in Ziva couldn't help but let out a small smile at this. True to his nature, Tony managed to cheer her up slightly even when everything seemed hopeless.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

"Oh I'm just peachy," he replied.

"How is your head?"

"I think it's had better days to be honest. But seriously, why did we take the elevator?"

"I am not quite sure. I have been thinking over the evacuation and every possible scenario in the last 20 minutes though."

"Is that how long I was out for?"

"Just over 18 minutes actually," she told him with a wry smile knowing exactly what his response would be to that.

"That's my Ziva, keeping an exact count of everything as usual. We really need to get you to stop doing that," he responded almost exactly as Ziva had envisioned him doing in her mind. The only thing she hadn't considered was him calling her _his_ Ziva, though she brushed it off as nothing and put it down to the situation they were in and his head injury. Still, she couldn't keep the pink tinge off of her cheeks and ended up ducking her head so as to avoid it being detected. This was probably the worst thing she could have done however as Tony noticed this and called her out on it.

"What's up Ziva?" he said whilst reaching out to take her hand thinking that she needed comforting. Ziva let him take her hand and raised her eyes again to look at him properly where he lay on the floor.

"Nothing, I am fine. Do you think you can sit up?" Sighing to himself at her change of subject Tony shrugged. He knew that her ducking her head was related to what he had said. He hadn't meant to call her _his_ Ziva but it had slipped out. He decided to leave it be for now and give sitting up a try. After all, they would be in the elevator for an undetermined length of time and he would probably have plenty of time to revisit the topic. Groaning rather loudly he heaved himself up, keeping a tight hold on Ziva's hand all the time. Once up he sat there watching the elevator spin in circles waiting to regain his equilibrium again. Ziva noticed the pain etched on his face and gripped his hand tighter, not willing to let him slip back into unconsciousness.

"Tony," she said rather forcefully, "are you going to be alright? If you cannot sit up just lie back down. I do not want you to leave me with my thoughts again." She tried to keep her words clear and light hearted when she was saying this but Tony sensed the slight waver in her voice as she ducked her head again.

"Hey," he whispered. Catching the bottom of her chin with his forefinger so that he could look at her, "We're gonna be alright. We'll make it out. And I promise not to leave you with your thoughts again," he added with a small smile. Hearing this Ziva tried to pull her gaze from his to suck her head again as she was suddenly overwhelmed with so many emotions at once and did not want to show weakness. He wouldn't let her so she settled on simply turning her head and trying to hide behind her hair. Tony had to stifle a laugh at this as there was no way her hair would cover he face when it was still up in a ponytail and he did not want her to think he was laughing at her. "Ziva," he tried again.

"What," she just about got out but it sounded more like a muffled sob than anything else. At this Tony no longer cared about how much pain he was in, he just had to hold her. Spreading his legs a little wider while leaning back against the wall he carefully pulled her close to him. Being Ziva, she resisted a little at first but she didn't really have that much energy and it would be nice to be held she thought. She was also relieved that Tony had regained consciousness as she had had too long to worry about everyone else whilst waiting. As she had said to him, she had also played out every scenario and some of them had made her worry a lot. Her biggest fear though was definitely them not getting out of this and the thought that Tony would never wake up had occupied her thoughts for longer than it probably should have done.

Turning sideways so that she was able to keep her injured right arm out of the way she slowly leant into him resting her head against his shoulder. Tony wrapped his arms around her while Ziva carefully placed her right arm across his chest and snaked her left arm round his back. It was painful for both of them but neither of them wanted to stop- they just needed human contact. Realising how lucky they both were to still be alive and not too badly hurt Ziva let out another muffled sob and tried to pull away again in order to compose herself. Sensing this, Tony angled his face to look down at her and tightened his grip- there was no way he was letting her go now.

"Ziva," she heard his voice cutting through the walls she was desperately trying to rebuild round herself, "You're not showing weakness you know, just let it all out. I'm right here and I'm not going to go anywhere. Just let it out. I promise you you'll feel better for it. We'll all make it out you know. Just don't be afraid to let it out."

Hearing Tony say this, her Tony, was just enough to set her over the edge. Those walls that she was trying to rebuild completely crumbled and she buried her head into his shoulder in a final attempt to hide what was happening to her. Sensing her distress Tony kept carefully rubbing circles on her back as an attempt to calm her down while murmuring comforting words to her. He knew how much better she would feel if she allowed herself to cry and he just hoped that she trusted him enough to allow herself to do so. Sure enough, Ziva had got to the point of no return and was currently trying desperately for some sense of control to return to her so that she would not appear completely weak in front of Tony. As if reading her thoughts Tony reminded her that it was not weak to let it all out and that it would in fact be good for her to do so and this was all it took for Ziva to completely break down in sobs.

Tony let her get it out for a couple of minutes while slowly rubbing her back before recommencing his quiet mantra of comforting words. Looking down at Ziva's body which was racked with heart-wrenching sobs he couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of duty to protect her and subconsciously drew her closer to him. He could feel her slowly calming down as he did so, so he shifted her slightly to get a better look at her face when she finally lifted it from his shoulder, not that it looked like she was going to do that any time soon. Tony was in no hurry and didn't exactly have anywhere to go so he sat there; rubbing circles on her back, while his shoulder got wetter and wetter and Ziva gradually stopped crying.

When that happened the first thing Tony expected her to do was to pull away as it was Ziva he was holding. To prevent her doing this he kept his hold on her nice and tight but he hadn't have needed to as she tightened her arm round his back and lay her head on his shoulder looking up at him with a small, sheepish smile on her face. Tony reached up with his hand to tuck a stray strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail behind her ear so that he could see her properly and they sat there for a couple of seconds, looking at each other with Tony's hand resting lightly on her cheek.

Ziva was the first to break the silence, "Thankyou," she told him in a small voice, "For it all," she added although Tony had realised what she was thanking him for.

"No problem. That's what friends are for," he said. The fact he didn't just want to be her friend anymore he added on afterward silently. "How are you feeling?" he asked her, "What are your injuries like?"

"They are fine. I am fine." Tony just looked at her in response to this, "Okay, okay. My arm is maybe broken but it is not too bad and I have a lot of bruises. How is the headache?"

"Oh it feels like I have an entire marching band in my head but I can deal with it," Tony attempted a bit of humour, unaware that his thumb was still moving on Ziva's back.

Ziva struggled for a moment inside her head but finally just blurted out what she wanted to say, "What if we don't make it out Tony?" She asked him the one thing that was going round and round her head, "What if they don't get us out and we're stuck or the elevator breaks or something?"

"We'll make it out Ziva, have faith. Gibbs is probably looking for us right now," Tony replied though he was secretly worried as well, "And everyone will be fine too. Gibbs will have made sure Abby got out and McGee was probably already out by the time the bomb went off. They'll get us out and then we can go and get this bastard," he finished.

"I know that Tony," Ziva said, "I just needed to hear you say it."

"Well now that I've said it how about we do something to pass the time?"

"Like what?"

"We could play I spy?" Tony asked her, needing something to keep his mind off the situation they were in.

"What is that?"

"You've never played I spy? We are definitely playing it then. One of us will say I spy with my little eye something beginning with and then will say the first letter of something they can see. You have to guess what it is that I am saying. Want to start?"

"Okay," Ziva said, unsure, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with B"

"B? Errrr blood? Boxes, not that I can see any actually" Tony trailed off, thinking hard, "Got it! Buttons!"

Ziva smiled at this, "Yes," she said, "Your turn."

"Okay. I spy with my little eye something beginning with P"

It did not take Ziva very long to guess this at all, "Plaster? It is everywhere."

"It's no fun playing with you. You're too clever."

"Well what else do you want to do then?"

Tony shrugged, "I'm not sure. Any ideas my ninja?" He hesitated slightly after saying this; he really needed to be more careful. A slight head injury was no excuse for slipping up and calling Ziva his not just once, but twice.

Ziva did have one idea yes, but it was not one that she was going to share with him. Instead she settled on shrugging (something she wouldn't be attempting again if she remembered how much pain she was in) and telling him that she had no ideas.

The pair sat in silence for a little while before Tony broke it. "When we do get out," he started.

"Carry on," Ziva encouraged him.

Tony took a deep breath and continued with what he was saying, "When we do get out… do you… is there anything you want to do… you know… a bit like a… sort of a bucket list thing… kinda?" he finally spat out.

"What do you mean Tony?"

"Well I have a list of things that I've always wanted to do and after something like this is the time that most people do them. I mean, coming close to death and us being trapped in here has made me realise that I really need to get going on my bucket list. Is there anything that you want to do?"

At this little insight into Tony Ziva smiled, "Yes," she said, "I have always wanted to settle down with someone. I also want to make my relationship with my father better before it is too late."

Tony laughed, "Ahh the good old make peace with family members. As for settling down, I wish you better luck with it than I have had so far."

"Wendy was the closest you have come yes?"

"Yep," Tony said, popping his p.

"And then perhaps Jeanne," Ziva was well aware of the dangerous territory she was entering now.

"Maybe," Not to be outdone Tony felt the need to mention some of her relationships, "Your closest was with CIRay was it not?"

"I suppose so. Do you still wish to settle down?"

"Of course. I would love to have a couple of mini DiNozzo's running around. But as you put it so nicely, my biological clock is ticking."

"I thought you said men did not have biological clocks," Ziva was a little confused now.

"We don't. I was trying to make you smile."

"Oh," was all she said before falling silent again.

"It does not matter though, I am quite happy being where I am now," Tony was hoping that she would not look too much into that statement as the truth was he was very happy in his current position; but with life in general he was more content, less happy.

"As am I. Though it would be nice to finally find someone I could trust," little did Tony know that she had already found someone; she just wasn't sure how he felt about her.

"Is there no one that has your eye then?"

"Well there is one person," Ziva decided she may as well be honest from here on.

"Anyone I know?" Tony asked this in a strangely stiff voice Ziva thought, but the truth was he really did not want to know who this mysterious person was. It hurt him enough to realise that she had already found someone after Ray.

"Oh you know him very well," Ziva said with the beginnings of a smile creeping on to her face as she looked up at him, her gaze unwavering.

As a response, this startled Tony a little as there were not that many people that both he and Ziva knew very well. Thinking carefully over his response made the pounding in his head worse so he decided to just go with the flow and say whatever came into his head.

"I do, do I? It isn't McGoo is it?" he did not think he could take it if it was.

"No." Ziva's sudden response shocked him a bit.

"Who then?" Tony could honestly not think of anybody else they both knew very well who Ziva would not mind settling down with. To make matters worse the pounding was getting louder.

"You really would like to know who I would not mind settling down with." Truth be told Ziva really wanted to settle down with said person but she was not going to let Tony know that at this point in time.

"I would quite like to know, yes." Tony said while wincing. The beating was getting louder by the second and Tony's head felt like it was about to explode. He could have sworn he was starting to hear voices to.

"Tony? Ziva? Are you there?" that was weird, why would voices in Tony's head be calling for Ziva.

"Gibbs!" Ziva almost screamed with relief, "we are down here!"

"Thank God," Gibbs called back, "don't worry, we'll get you out."

Sure enough 3 minutes later both Tony and Ziva were being checked out by medics and preparing to go to hospital. Luckily no one on their team was too badly injured though McGee had a lot of cuts from the glass windows of the bullpen. He and Abby were already en route to hospital to finish being checked out but Gibbs had refused to go until he knew all of his team were safe.

Before Tony allowed himself to be separated from Ziva he gave her one more hug, holding her tightly as he whispered in her ear, "We'll finish this conversation later," and that was all it took for Ziva to finally cheer up and realise that they were out.

"Later," she promised.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay so I've decided that I may as well continue this. I've got a fairly good idea as to where I'm going to take it and I envisage it being only around 4 chapters long. Feedback is appreciated and I would like to know what you guys think as to whether continuing it is a good idea or not. Obviously it is not cannon as we all know what happens in the elevator but I'm working the post-elevator/pre-elevator angle here. I'm picking it up two months after the bombing after Dearing has been killed etc.**

Two months ago he had been stuck in an elevator with Ziva and now he was stuck in it with Gibbs Tony couldn't help thinking as he stood, waiting for hell to break loose. Sure, he should have been paying more attention at the crime scene so the guy didn't get away but, to be fair, his head hadn't been screwed on straight ever since the bomb blast and Ziva broke down in the elevator. In his arms, no less. Shuffling his feet he peered up at his boss's face to see a rather unexpected expression there, one of curiosity rather than anger which he had been expecting. It wasn't as if he didn't deserve it. To his surprise however, the first words out of his boss's mouth weren't the bollicking he had been expecting but a question.

"What happened?" It was a simple question, but Tony did not have a simple answer. He had no idea what had happened. Okay, so he knew that Ziva had been affected badly in the elevator but he still wasn't completely sure as to why. He also had no idea why he hadn't been able to stop the suspect today.

"I don't know boss," was the response he offered up. Unfortunately for Tony one look at Gibbs' face showed him just how much he was most definitely not buying it. Trying again, Tony attempted to explain himself without revealing the cards he held closest to his chest, "I guess I just wasn't paying attention to him," this time he didn't even need to get a look at Gibbs' face to know that his boss did not believe him. To be honest with himself, Tony knew exactly why that was, he didn't even sound believable to himself and with Gibbs' legendary gut he was surprised it had taken this long to be hauled into the elevator or Gibbs' basement for a thorough questioning. Rather than risking his few remaining brain cells he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut and wait for Gibbs to speak next. After all, a conversation is a two way thing.

As Tony expected, it didn't take long for Gibbs to speak again but it was still not what Tony was expecting, "I don't care about what happened this afternoon," Tony did a double take at this which caused Gibbs to rephrase his original statement. "Look DiNozzo, obviously I care that the guy got away, but I care more about the state of my agents at the moment. It's pretty damn obvious that something is up with you and my gut's telling me that something happened in that elevator. So stop playing games and tell me what the hell happened."

This was more like the Gibbs Tony was accustomed to but he was still unable to give a clear answer to the question. Despite their promises to each other neither he nor Ziva had spoken about their time in the elevator, although they had started to let the other in a bit more, and Tony was not one to spread stories around. After all, he wasn't exactly sure that he himself wanted Gibbs to know what had happened in the elevator and it hadn't been him that had completely lost control, he'd been the rock that day, the strong one. His fears had been kept at bay by the sight in front of him and his desire to put Harper Dearing in the ground once and for all. Now, months later, his mind was still in that elevator, running over and over the events and presenting him with different scenarios each time he thought back to that day.

A movement out the corner of his eye brought Tony back to the present and he realised that Gibbs was still standing, looking at him expectantly and waiting for an answer. Deciding that as he was being more honest with himself he may as well be more honest with his boss, Tony thought hard about a way to phrase his answer without letting Gibbs know the full extent of what had gone on.

"Look boss, we were so overwhelmed and we didn't even know whether we were gonna get out of there alive," he began before Gibbs interrupted him.

"This better not be going where I think it's going DiNozzo," he growled. Confused, Tony struggled to find the words to describe what had happened. Unfortunately for him, Gibbs was getting less patient by the second and the next thing Tony knew was a sharp smack to the back of his head accompanied by an angry Gibbs questioning him, "What have I told you about that?"

Really confused now, Tony attempted to put what he had said through his Gibbs translator while rubbing the patch on the back of his head. All of a sudden it dawned on him and he rushed to make Gibbs understand him, "We didn't do anything boss. I would never break rule 12 I swear. Honestly. We just shared a moment that's all."

"A moment?" Gibbs questioned, "What sort of moment?"

"I'm not sure it's my place to tell you boss. Ziva might kill me, and I quite like living." Hearing this impressed Gibbs and made him realise just how much his senior field agent had grown up. The old Tony wouldn't have stood up to him in the same way and he definitely wouldn't have made the distinction between what was his to tell and what wasn't. However, Gibbs did need to find out what at happened for he was concerned for Tony who really hadn't been himself since the blast and his display today had only proved that further.

Thinking quickly he made up his mind about what to do, "Well I guess you're just going to have to go and get agent David and we'll continue this conversation with her present."

Tony nodded in half-hearted agreement at this and Gibbs flipped the switch that would set the elevator going again. Reaching the desired floor he gave his agent a quick pat on the shoulder before gently pushing him out the door in the direction of the bull pen. While Tony was gone he took a moment to gather his thoughts before listening to the conversation his two agents were having. After all it was his eyesight that was bad, not his hearing and he did need to have some knowledge of where the conversation was going to go so that he didn't appear completely clueless.

"...thank you Tony," damn. It looked like he had caught the tail end of the conversation. Peering round the corner to see if the pair were coming yet he saw Tony reach out to place a comforting hand on Ziva's shoulder and realised that something involving strong emotions must have happened between them for her to allow Tony to do this. Come to think of it they had been a lot nicer and more thoughtful to the other lately as well.

Ducking back into the elevator just as Tony and Ziva reached it Gibbs reached out and pressed any button, it wasn't as if the elevator was actually going to get to that floor. The pair stepped inside as the door closed and Gibbs reached out to flip the emergency stop switch before turning to face them. As he did so he noted how Tony was standing close behind Ziva obviously to offer some sort of comfort as well as the varying degrees of trepidation they were displaying on their faces.

Deciding that he may as well get it over and done with Gibbs spoke first, "I don't know how much Tony told you Ziva but you need to know that he was being very careful with his answers. Answers that I need to keep this team from becoming less effective and prevent any more mistakes like the one this afternoon."

While Tony had the grace to look slightly ashamed at this Ziva, being Ziva, just carried on holding Gibbs' gaze and internally panicking slightly. Although Gibbs had finished speaking, the two remained quiet meaning he had to ask the question again. "As I said to DiNozzo, whatever the hell happened in that elevator two months ago I need to know and as he won't tell me you need to. He assured me there was no breaking of any rules but I do need to know about it as it is obviously affecting his performance meaning that yours must be affected to."

Still Ziva remained silent, although she had now dropped her gaze and was having a silent battle with herself. Sensing this, Gibbs remained quiet to give her time to compose her thoughts while Tony moved slightly closer to her so that he could let his fingers brush the small of her back to comfort her. The reason Ziva hadn't said anything about her time in the elevator was because she was ashamed of it so she inched ever so slightly away from Tony against her wishes and decided that she had displayed enough weakness in the past few months that she should be fine to go ahead and tell Gibbs about what she had felt.

"I think what Tony is referring to is that I was unable to control my emotions when I was stuck in that elevator," Ziva told Gibbs, bringing her gaze back up to his as if to challenge him, almost daring him to say something about her being weak.

Choosing to ignore this challenge Gibbs spoke again, "That doesn't tell me very much," he said. Again, he noted how Tony moved closer behind Ziva although this time she didn't move away.

Building up her walls and drawing on the strength of Tony behind her Ziva thought back to what had happened in the elevator. One minute she was perfectly fine and relieved that he had woken up and the next she was sobbing in his arms and she still wasn't sure why. She did remember him telling her that it wasn't weakness to demonstrate emotion and it was this she repeated to herself now before speaking to Gibbs. Like Gibbs, she knew that something had affected Tony and that it was probably related to the elevator; she didn't want something to happen to him because he hadn't gotten over the elevator and she could quite easily recall him saying that his head was still stuck in the elevator.

Sensing Gibbs was about to lose patience Ziva took a deep breath and started to explain, "I was upset by the bomb. It made me remember how I used to live, back in Israel. I could not stop thinking about how Tali died in a bomb blast and I did not want to lose my family over here in a similar way. I was scared Gibbs and Tony did not let me rebuild my walls. Sorry." She took another deep breath after she had finished and the men stayed silent, shocked at what had just happened. Gibbs because he had no idea and Tony because he did not think that she would tell Gibbs, at least not this quickly.

The time it took for Ziva to get a response made her think that she had again done something wrong and she moved away from Tony and towards the back of the elevator. This was what drew Gibbs out of his thoughts, they had spent years trying to convince her that there was nothing wrong with showing emotion and he did not want to send her back in to believing that this is the case.

"Rule number 6 Ziva," he began before he was interrupted.

"I know Gibbs, but I was hoping you would make an exception."

Gibbs sighed then before continuing, "not what I meant Ziva. You don't need to apologise, there is nothing wrong with getting scared and upset. Now all we need to..." again he was interrupted.

"It is not Gibbs. I should have stayed focused and found a way to get out..." this time it was Ziva who was interrupted.

"David," Gibbs was really starting to lose his patience now, "We've spoken about this before, you are allowed to let your emotions show."

Sensing that his partner was still doubting herself Tony cut in quickly, "Honestly Ziva, we're all fine and there was no harm done." Ziva allowed a small flicker of something in her eyes just then and Tony caught sight of it. As adept as he was at reading her eyes he couldn't place this emotion so chose to ignore it before waiting for Gibbs to continue.

"Not completely fine DiNozzo," Gibbs reminded him, "You missed an easy catch today and I need to know why." He really hated being in charge of this team sometimes, it was like looking after a bunch of teenagers.

"Look Boss, I won't say I'm sorry because I know how you feel about apologies but I am" Tony told Gibbs, frantically looking for a way to prevent the shift of conversation on to him. Gibbs, knowing exactly what his agent was doing ignored this and carried on regardless.

"What the hell affected you so bad that you can't work correctly? I need to know as your boss and Ziva needs to know as your partner so that we can sort out your work problems. You need to learn to distinguish between past and present." He really just wanted to sort this out now. They had been in the elevator for far longer than any of his normal 'conferences' already and they were barely scratching the surface. McGee had probably completed most of the paperwork for the case by now.

Realising this, and wanting to get the air cleared as well, Tony attempted to form his thoughts in a way that could be understood by those around him, "I guess I just realised how easy it is for things to go wrong boss. I still have a load of things that I need to complete before I die and I was reminded in that elevator of how mortal we all are." Here he paused and glanced around the elevator to give himself time to think.

Propped up against the back wall of the elevator Ziva caught her partner's eyes and realised that he was struggling slightly. Like he had once said to her his eyes, being the gateway to the soul, always betrayed his emotions. She shifted slightly to catch his attention and gave him a small smile. It was a simple gesture but it was all Tony needed. This exchange did not go unnoticed by Gibbs but by now he was used to the two's unorthodox way of working and figured that as long as it got the job done he didn't care.

Taking another breath Tony opened his mouth to carry on speaking, "I thought of something that day boss. I have things I need to say to people, things they should know but I'm too chicken to tell them. Things that shouldn't be left unsaid. I have no one to carry on my legacy should I die and no one to tell people how much they loved me. Something Ziva said reminded me of that and I can't let go of how alone I am. I keep thinking back to that when I'm in the middle of these situations and thinking of how different my life might be and much better I'd feel if I'd just tell the per... people that I love that I love them." Afraid he'd said too much Tony stopped speaking, especially after that near miss he'd just had. Gibbs was right, he needed to move forward and by doing that he needed to let go of her – not that she'd been his in the first place.

Listening to Tony speak Ziva couldn't help but think back to their conversation too. She was about to reveal her best kept secret (or so she liked to think) to him before they had been interrupted and she couldn't help but thinking what would have happened if she had told him it. Lost in thoughts about what could have been she didn't realise Gibbs had started talking again and missed the first part of the conversation.

"...just about a girl?" she heard him ask in disbelief. Not knowing what was going on she kept quiet.

"Not just any girl boss," Tony replied. He wasn't prepared to get into this right now, especially not with Gibbs.

"Hmmph," Gibbs snorted but left it alone. Glad that he now knew what happened in the elevator he reached out and flicked the emergency switch to take them back to the bull pen and help McGee finish the paperwork. Before that however, he needed coffee and planned to take McGee with him so the two could have a quick conversation. Despite how good they were at having silent conversations he could tell that there were some things they needed to say to each other and he really wasn't as stupid as his agents thought he was – he knew **exactly** what would happen if Tony spoke to the girl he needed to.

Having watched Gibbs grab McGee and walk off in the direction of the break room Tony realised that he and Ziva were being given space to talk to each other. Glancing over at Ziva, he could tell that she had had the same thought but did not appear to be as fond of the idea as he was. He thought about opening with a movie quote to lighten the mood but felt Ziva would probably drop-kick him if he did so he stuck to pointing out the obvious, "I think that sorted things out. Good drop on the guy earlier by the way. I'm impressed."

Thankful that Tony had given her an out but finding the strength not to take it Ziva smiled before replying, "I get the feeling that Gibbs has left us here to talk about things," she ground out.

"I'm glad I'm not alone in that assumption then Zee-Vah," Tony told her, drawing out her name in an attempt to keep things fairly light-hearted between them. He wasn't sure he was completely ready for this conversation yet and now realised exactly why he hadn't brought up the topic since the elevator, "I don't suppose you're prepared to pick up this conversation exactly where we left it off though?"

"I think I may need reminding of exactly where we left it off," Ziva purred at him moving right into his personal space.

Tony gulped at the sudden change in mood before flashing his grin at her and falling back in to their usual playful behaviour, "Well as a very special agent I'm sure I can help refresh your memory. What exactly do you think would help?"

"I am sure you will think of something. Maybe when you have decided on the appropriate technique you can drop by mine this evening. But for now I need to go and finish my paperwork," giving Tony one last winning smile she sashayed her way back behind her desk smiling to herself, for she was well aware of the state she had just left him in.

Tony stood there shocked for all of three seconds before replying, "Until later than David," and sitting down behind his desk and starting on his pile of paperwork.

"I will see you tonight Tony."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for taking longer than I should have done to upload but I hope you like this chapter.**

**I think they all need some happiness at the moment so this chapter should be fairly happy at the end. That said, there will be some signs of a bumpy ride here as I don't think this sort of conversation would happen smoothly.**

Thankfully the group hadn't picked up a late case the rest of that afternoon and it was spent filing paperwork and catching up on the things that should have been done weeks ago – months in Tony's case. As it was he didn't get as much work done as he should have done due to the fact he was thinking over the conversation he'd had with Ziva and her quick change in mood. He also spent a large part of the time clock watching and counting down the time until they were released so that he and Ziva could hopefully progress and finish their conversation they had started months ago.

As a result of being so preoccupied with his own thoughts and the clock Tony missed the fact that Ziva was also lost in thought and very quiet leaving McGee an awful lot of room to puzzle over his team members' behaviour which was decidedly atypical. Normally for him an afternoon of paperwork meant the pair of them taunting each other or ganging up and taunting him. That being said, he did appreciate the chance to catch up on his paperwork and make sure it was completed correctly without any of the interruptions that normally caused the mistakes and the silence did his creative mind wonders as he started thinking out several scenarios in which this thing between Tony and Ziva could come to head – he preferred the ones that didn't end with Ziva killing Tony.

After what seemed like no time at all to Ziva and McGee and several days to Tony Gibbs dismissed them all for the night and they headed out quickly. At least, McGee and Ziva made it out quickly but Tony was called back by Gibbs. Sighing as he headed back to the bullpen Tony hoped this wouldn't take long as he really wanted to resolve his and Ziva's talk as quickly as possible and Gibbs calling him back could only mean that he was unsatisfied with the way they finished their talk earlier.

Gibbs waited until he was sure the elevator had left before starting to speak, "Look DiNozzo, I know what you hope to happen tonight," he began before pausing to send a look in Tony's direction that quite plainly said shut up. Tony nodded briefly, giving Gibbs the room he needed to continue, "As I was saying, I know what you hope will happen tonight and to be quite honest I don't really care what does happen. I'm not impressed that you haven't spoken to me about it before and I want to remind you that you can always talk to me. All these years have led to where you and Ziva are now and I know what you both want, so you go out there and you tell her everything. Just make sure you don't screw this up or you'll learn exactly why rule 12 exists," he finished.

Throughout his speech Tony's mouth had slowly opened in shock and he now stood there staring at his boss not believing he was being told to forget about rule 12. Sensing this, Gibbs gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the elevator with a small smile on his face as he did so.

As Tony walked, in a daze, towards the elevator he didn't miss Gibbs calling after him, "Shut your mouth as you go DiNozzo, don't want you to choke on all the flies!" Nor did he miss the quick mutter that followed, "Go get her son".

It was this comment that really got Tony smiling, as he realised that Gibbs had not only given him permission to break a rule, he was fully supporting him and, in his own unique way, wanting Tony to succeed. The smile stayed on Tony's face for the entire journey, down the elevator across the parking lot, across town to Ziva's, even when parking his beloved car but as soon as he set foot on the pavement he started to doubt himself.

Slowly Tony approached Ziva's apartment, giving him time to mentally prepare himself and gain enough courage to actually knock on the door. Unsure if this was time Ziva had in mind when she said to come round in the evening he realised he didn't even know if she was in or not but he decided that there was no harm in trying. Hoping for success Tony raised his fist to knock on the door only to nearly knock on the forehead of the very woman he had come to talk to, catching himself just in time.

"Oops, sorry Ziva. I wasn't looking," he told her as she smiled and stepped to the side to allow Tony access to her home.

"Do not worry about it, you missed," she said with a hint of a smirk on her face, "Now are you coming in or not?"

"I most certainly am Zee-Vah," Tony finished, stepping past her and walking into the living room. Noticing the ninja hadn't followed him Tony looked back to see Ziva staring at the exact spot he had just occupied, apparently having not noticed he had walked past. Puzzled he started heading back towards her when she gave a small shake and walked off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Beer?" she called, well aware that she was attempting to prolong any discussion for as long as possible. She was really starting to slip though , especially when they were alone together and needed this situation to be resolved one way or another she was well aware that Tony had started to notice. They had only been standing on the doorstep for about 20 seconds and she had started getting lost in thoughts of what she hoped tonight would bring.

"Yeah that would be great thanks," Tony shouted back as he perched himself on the edge of the sofa.

When Ziva walked back through to the living room with the two beers she also sat at the edge of the sofa, demonstrating her nervous anticipation of the conversation to come.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, drinking around half of their beer each. As the silence continued they became more relaxed with Ziva sitting back in her seat and the tension visibly leaving Tony's shoulders before he to leant back on the sofa and laid his arm across the back.

It was another couple of minutes before either of them felt the need to speak and, as a consequence of this, both of them had planned out exactly what they wanted to say and how they wanted to say it. Being tired of waiting, Tony attempted to speak first, at almost exactly the same time as Ziva.

"Look Ziva, I..."

"Tony I want you to know..."

They both stopped abruptly to give the other space to continue and Tony gestured at Ziva.

"You can start Tony, I do not mind," Ziva told him.

"And this is why men don't understand women," Tony laughed, still clinging on to his humour to guide him through what could be a painful conversation, "you say chivalry is dead, yet when we do something nice you throw it right back in our faces," he finished, unable to keep his tone light throughout.

Ziva stayed quiet a moment knowing Tony didn't mean it the way he had said it but it still hurt a little. Apparently Tony had gotten better at reading her eyes because he noticed something in them that made him immediately backtrack, "I didn't mean it like that... you know what I meant... I was just trying to... Sorry Ziva."

"It is okay Tony, I am well aware of your defence mechanism by now," Ziva told him while simultaneously deciding that things were about to get ugly.

"What do you mean by that exactly?" Tony asked her; acutely aware that the conversation was not going down the track he had initially planned for it to go.

"Only that you always defer to some attempt at humour when you do not want to talk about something."

"I'm here now aren't I?"

"Yes you are. But you still do not want to have this conversation, I can tell that much at least," Ziva told him her tone softening slightly towards the end as an attempt to prevent a full out argument. Unfortunately Tony had already taken the bait.

"What do you mean I don't want to have this conversation. I have been waiting to finish this conversation since **you **promised me we would finish it later. Well guess what Ziva. It is later. Two months later. And I've come here to have this conversation with you and get everything out in the air. I wasn't lying when I told you my head was still stuck in that elevator you know."

"I know you were not Tony but I cannot have this conversation with you when I don't think you are ready to have it."

"You could not be more wrong Ziva, I am more than ready for this conversation and I have been even before the elevator. So instead of attempting to avoid it yet again why don't you just have it with me and finish what you started."

"Oh that is rich claiming that I want to avoid having this conversation. I was the one that started it in the first place and decided that I was done trying to hide away and come clean," Ziva started, her voice rising in volume. Before she could get too far however Tony interrupted.

"Fat lot of good that did," he snorted before giving the appearance of a deer caught in headlights when he realised he had said that out loud.

"See I knew this was a mistake," Ziva cried, "Have you been lying to me all these years? You tell me, no, **encourage **me to show emotion! Now that I have finally decided it is okay to finally accept my feelings you tell me it was a stupid idea." She was beyond pissed now but Tony could only latch on to the last part of what she had just yelled at him.

"No that's not true," he hashed out before moving on to what he deemed the most important part, "What do you mean you've given into your feelings?" he was deliberately staying calm now, especially as the conversation was getting close to a make it or break it moment.

Ziva stayed quiet for a while leading Tony to believe that he'd really put his foot in it but in reality she was thinking of how to phrase what was coming next. Unable to come up with anything good she decided just to go for it and say whatever came in to her mind.

"Well... I just think that I'm tired of hiding my feelings from myself," she said, proud of how calm she sounded when she was shaking inside, "and from others," she finished.

Tony was less able to keep his voice from betraying some of the emotion he was feeling and it shook a little when he replied, "Yeah, I guess. Look...I...Me and you...You know..."

Aware of how precariously the metaphorical scales were balanced (she did understand some idioms) at this point in their conversation Ziva stayed quiet allowing Tony time to compose his thoughts into some form of comprehendible statement.

"Look at me," he snorted, "just brilliant at communicating aren't I?"

Ziva remained quiet for another minute before Tony started speaking in a soft voice, staring at the floor in an attempt to avoid all eye contact.

"Look Ziva. I'm gonna try my absolute hardest over here and I can completely understand if you push me out of your home, lock the door and shut me out of your life after this," he began. Ziva didn't miss the self preservation tactics that he was employing and she smiled to herself, it was so typical of both of them.

Taking a deep breath Tony ploughed in fiddling a little with his fingers in his lap now, "Anyway I think it's about time that I told you this. You deserve to hear what I think, so just hear me out, please. Me and you, we've never been simple and like your father you are a complicated person to understand. I think I already told you that but no matter. Over the years we've been partners I've spent a long time peeling back you layers to see what the real Ziva David is like. I've been there to see you go through a lot, and I've heard a lot about what you've gone through and in a way I'm glad you've gone through it all – well, maybe only some of it. It's made you who you are today and I've got to tell you something, that person is impressive. She's strong, she's incredibly good at kicking arse and she's exceptionally good at looking good while she does it."

Here Ziva attempted to interrupt but Tony held up one finger to silence her. At some point during his speech he had shifted where he was looking at from the floor to her and now held her gaze as he finished off what he was saying.

"Basically what I think I'm trying to say is that I think I'm falling in love with you"

It was Ziva's turn to look uncomfortable as she looked first at her hands, then back at Tony, then to the floor, before finally returning Tony's stare. She could see only two things in his eyes, honesty and love, and it was because of this that she felt a small blush start to stain her cheeks. It was light enough to not be noticeable but with how attuned to her he was Ziva knew that there was no way Tony had missed it.

Tony himself could hardly believe how honest he'd just been and hoped that he hadn't been misreading the signs all these years. He sat there, waiting for Ziva to reply and couldn't help but notice the small blush on her face. That gave him a huge sense of pride – he'd never seen anything that even remotely resembled a blush on her face and here she was blushing, with him as the cause of it.

As the silence wore on Tony began to grow uncomfortable sat still as he ran through various scenarios in his head (far too many of which ended with her killing him and dumping his body) so he stood up and started pacing up and down in front of the sofa. Realising that she was probably going to let him down he started scrambling his brain in an attempt to find an excuse leave. Any excuse would do, he just didn't want to be disappointed because he wasn't sure he would be able to keep it together.

Tony's movement startled Ziva out of her thoughts and she realised that he was waiting for her to talk. She could hear his brain working overtime and realised that she was about to miss her chance.

Hurriedly she cobbled something together that she hoped was acceptable, "Tony," she said softly to get his attention. Once she was certain she had it, she continued because there was no way she was laying her heart on the line like this twice.

"I...I...I think I'm falling in love with you too," she mumbled, so quietly Tony didn't actually hear here and thought that she was telling him to leave.

Dejected he made his way to the door but sound from behind him made him pause for a moment. As he did so he heard a short intake of breath from Ziva and realised that that must have been what he had heard a moment ago. Turning back around he could see that Ziva hadn't moved since she had last spoken and was staring at the spot he had been pacing round with a heartbroken look on her face. He took a couple of steps towards her and was able to make out what looked like a tear running down her face. He sighed, realising that he couldn't leave her while she was like this and that meant having to face her just after she had just rejected him.

A noise behind her made Ziva turn round and she saw Tony standing there, hands in his pockets just staring at her. The look on his face was one of steely resolution while hers was heartbroken. She had no idea why he left but took it to mean that she had been rejected and left by yet another person she trusted and loved. She was beyond caring and didn't bother trying to hide how much he had hurt her, allowing the tears to flow freely down her face.

Walking up to her Tony retook his perch at the other end of the couch and reached out a hand to rest on her knee.

"Don't bother DiNozzo," Ziva spat at him and he recoiled, "not after what you've just done."

Confused and heartbroken Tony couldn't keep his temper when he replied, "What do you mean what I've done? All I did was spill my heart to you and you kicked me out!"

"Kicked you out!? The last thing I wanted was for you to leave! I opened my heart to you completely and you walked out on me!" Ziva yelled back, openly sobbing now.

"Wait," Tony started, treading very lightly, "You mean you didn't tell me to go?"

"No. I told you that I love you and you just left. Even after you tell me that you love me!" Ziva was still sobbing and her breathing was starting to get extremely erratic.

"Shit Ziva. I am so sorry," Tony said, not really knowing what to say.

What Tony did next surprised both of them as he leant over and pressed a feather light kiss Ziva's forehead before shifting closer so that he could put her arm round her. Not completely satisfied Ziva stood up and moved into the middle of her living room floor. Tony was faster though and caught her arm as he stood up after her and pulled her in for a kiss, refusing to let go.

He needn't have worried however, for all the fight had gone from Ziva and she allowed herself to be pulled in close and melded her body to fit his. She reached up to loop her arms around his neck as he moved one hand round to the small of her back and the other moved up to cradle her face. They pulled apart after a few seconds but Ziva stayed quite happily in Tony's arms. Tony moved his thumb to brush the last of the tears from her face before pulling her back in for another kiss.

Safe in the knowledge that the other was not going to pull away the second kiss heated up quickly and became extremely passionate as years of history were pulled into it. Feeling Ziva moan into his mouth, Tony pulled away again to drop a series of kisses along her neck and up to her ear. Ziva ran her hands through his hair and pulled lightly on it, ensuring that he was listening to her.

"Bedroom," she breathed at him.

Perfectly happy to comply, Tony took her by the hand and she led him off to her room.

**Please don't shoot me. No seriously don't shoot me. I can't write smut and know that not everyone wants to (or should be) reading it so I've left it there. If you really need your smut fix, I suggest you go and read a fic by someone who can actually write it (if you don't know anyone there's plenty of it just search the fics). I will be putting one more chapter up after this at some point, hopefully soon but probably not because I am appalling at updates. As always, your comments would be nice, even if you do want to shoot me let me know!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Last chapter guys! This is for Niki! And everyone else who reads it, but Niki made me finish it so here it is. There are a couple of time jumps but it should flow okay. **

As his alarm clock rudely awakened him the next morning it took a few moments for Tony to remember exactly what happened. Stretching out his arm to hit the snooze button to allow himself an extra couple of minutes sleep he felt the distinctive warmth of another person in his bed, which was definitely unexpected.

Sitting up sharply and reaching blindly for his gun, it wasn't until he noticed the barrel of another gun pointing in his face that Tony realised he had not spent the night in his own bed. It appeared that Ziva had drawn this conclusion at much the same time that Tony had for she had put her gun back under her pillow and was now staring intently at the spot just to the left of Tony's face.

Acutely aware of the seashells he and Ziva were now treading on Tony opted for a simple greeting, while staring at his hands. "Morning," was all he said, his voice still laced with traces of sleep.

It had taken her a couple of seconds to remember everything, but now that Ziva had done so she was reliving the night in her mind. Tony's voice startled her back to the present but the memory meant that his sleep heavy voice sent a shiver down her spine – one that did not go unnoticed by Tony, though he wisely decided not to comment on it.

"Good morning Tony," she replied, giving him a quick flick with her eyes.

The pair sat there in silence for what seemed like hours but was really only about ten seconds before Tony shifted uncomfortably and tried again for a conversation, "So," he drew it out, not really sure where to go from there.

Ziva stayed quiet, allowing room for Tony to straighten out his thoughts and connect his brain to his mouth. Grateful for this, Tony quickly thought about what it was exactly that he wanted to say and took a loose hold of Ziva's hand before continuing.

"Last night was good," he began, before changing his mind and back tracking, "I mean… uh… I want… uh… you know," he gestured helplessly. This made a small smile spread across Ziva's face and she couldn't help the chuckle that she gave. This was one of the things she loved about the man she decided – his uncanny way of making her laugh at the most inappropriate of times. She gave his hand an encouraging squeeze and that, combined with her relaxed appearance, gave Tony the strength to just tell all.

"As I said," he decided to just go for it, "last night was good. Very good actually and I don't know what you thought but I don't want this to be a one-time thing. I don't want you to go all Mossad Ziva on me and close up because I know that you're very good at doing that. This is me, laying myself bare for you in the hope that we can finally come clean with each other. You're an amazing woman Ziva and I've gotten to know you very well over the past nearly 8 years and I think you and I both know how deep my feelings run for you. Yes we've had our ups and downs but they've only brought us closer together so please can you give me, give us a chance?" he finished.

Tony had maintained eye contact with her for the whole of his little speech and it was only now that he had laid his heart on the line he felt his bravery waver a little. The slight smile that was spreading across Ziva's face however, told him that he had nothing to worry about so, taking another risk, he reached up, cupped her face with his hand, and pulled her in for a kiss. This kiss was nowhere near as passionate as the ones they had shared the night before, but was slow and meaningful.

Reluctantly, Ziva pulled away, knowing that she still had much to say to Tony and that time was running out as they had to make it to work and both still needed showers.

"I think we have established that we both have strong feelings for each other Tony," she started, a small smile on her face still, "you asked me to give you a chance. Yes, I will give you a chance. You asked me to give us a chance and I think I can do that. All I need to know is that if for some reason this," she gestured between them, "does not work out, then you will still be here for me, as a friend. I also need to know that you won't do to me what many other men I have trusted have done, I need you to reassure me that my trust in you is not misplaced. That is all."

"Ziva, Ziva, Ziva," Tony replied, giving his head a small shake, "I can promise you that your trust in me is not misguided, and that I will do everything in my power to make this work between us. There is no one I would rather spend the rest of my life with at this moment, and I am prepared to work hard to ensure that this... this... relationship does not fail."

Hearing Tony refer to their thing as a relationship made Ziva realise how much weight had been taken off of her shoulders, and she knew that Tony felt the same. She gave his hand a squeeze, placed a quick peck on his lips and jumped out of bed, intending to go shower.

"Ziva!" Tony called after her, "Where are you going?"

"I don't know about you, but I think we both need to shower, and you need to go home to change your clothes and we have to be at work in an hour."

"Kicking me out of your place now sweet cheeks? No goodbye kiss?" Tony teased.

Poking her head back around the door Ziva threw his car keys towards him, "I will come pick you up in 45 minutes yes?" She asked.

"Sharing a lift to work now, what will Gibbs think?" Tony asked, this time only half teasing.

"It does not matter, but I do not think he will be upset that we're carpooling. As long as we are there on time of course," Ziva replied, sending another subtle hint towards Tony that they really did need to get a move on.

"I'm going, I'm going." Tony muttered, dragging himself out of bed and starting to collect his clothes, "What do we tell Gibbs about this?"

Looking slightly taken aback at this question Ziva answered, "nothing. He does not need to know. But if he asks then we tell him the truth. I do not think that he will mind too much. As long as it does not interfere with work."

"What? No kissing you at work? I don't think I can manage to do that," the teasing tone was fully back in Tony's voice now.

"You managed fine for eight years, I'm sure you can manage now, especially knowing that as soon as we finish you can kiss me all you want." Ziva teased right back at him, "Anyway, we really need to get a move on so I will pick you up in 45 minutes, be quick!" she called, before waltzing back into the bathroom to shower in peace.

"Whatever you say Ziva, whatever you say," Tony muttered as he finished getting dressed and left her apartment leaving just enough time to shower and grab a bite to eat before Ziva knocked on his door .

Two hours later the partners were sat at their respective desks still working through piles of paper work. It looked set to be another slow day as there were no current cases for any of the teams. The lack of any current case made it hard for all of the team members to focus on what they should be doing; McGee had an online game open, Gibbs was reading through cold case files that he really shouldn't have, and Tony and Ziva were sending emails back and forth to each other.

The constant ding of their computers was starting to wind McGee up and he muttered something about needing Abby's signature on something before running off in the direction of her lab. This sudden movement caused Ziva to look up from the teasing email she was currently composing and glance across towards Gibbs who was eyeing both her and Tony up with a strange look in his eye that she couldn't quite place.

Taking this opportunity Gibbs stood up and beckoned to both of them to follow him and led them towards the alcove behind the stairs.

"Everything sorted out?" he asked them, despite already knowing the answer. The smirk on his face told his agents this and they had complete confidence in moving slightly closer to each other before answering.

"Yes, it is."

"Yup, certainly is."

The smirk didn't leave Gibbs' face as he responded, "Good. I'm happy for you."

Having not been present for the conversation the previous night Ziva was not completely sure if Gibbs was on board so interrupted before he could add anything else, "Gibbs, Tony and I," she started, moving to take a loose hold of his hand, "we're..."

"It's alright Ziva, I know." Gibbs cut across her, "I'd have to be completely blind to not know that this was going to happen eventually. I did think it might have been a bit sooner though. You just make sure you don't screw up or, as I told Tony last night, you'll find out why rule 12 exists."

"Don't worry boss, we're not going to screw up, I promise," Tony told him, still holding on to Ziva's hand.

"I hope you don't DiNozzo, but I still have to warn you. And do this," reaching behind them Gibbs gave them both a gentle tap to the back of the head, "for breaking rule 12. Now, back to work with you both, and if you can keep the emailing to a minimum it would be appreciated, McGee is already suffering."

"We will do not worry," Ziva said, "we should probably tell him as well, should we not? It would be nice for him to know."

"After working with the pair of you for eight years I'm sure he already knows, but if you think it would be beneficial then yes, I suggest you tell him soon, before he finds out another way."

Having said far more than he normally does, Gibbs walked back towards the bull pen leaving tony and Ziva who decided that heading to the lab would be a good idea as Abby would be inconsolable if she was left out.

Together, they headed towards the elevator which would take them down to the lab and as soon as they were inside Tony pressed the emergency stop button.

"What's the matter? Have we not spent enough time in elevators lately?" Ziva asked him, with a slight lilt in her voice meaning that Tony could tell she was teasing.

"Apparently we haven't," Tony bounced right back, he always enjoyed a bit of banter with her, "although I was thinking more along the lines of I haven't spent enough time with you."

"You've sat opposite me all morning Tony."

"But I haven't had a chance to do this," he whined, moving forwards to give her a quick kiss.

"Satisfied?" Ziva asked, trying and failing to keep her voice calm. Pretending not to notice she carried on regardless, "we can't stay in here forever you know."

"I know, I know," Tony carried on whining flipping the switch as he spoke, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to."

As the elevator began to move again Ziva dropped her hand and shifted away from Tony slightly just in case Abby and McGee were not alone in the lab. Sending a slight smile her way Tony took the hint and moved towards the doors just as they opened.

Walking into the lab the first thing they noticed was the absence of music which meant that they weren't wrong about McGee being here as well. They found the two poring over Abby's computer and just stood there for a minute until Tony cleared his throat which made the pair jump.

Once they had regained their composure McGee spoke, "We got a case?" he asked. Abby on the other hand was looking between the two with a look that Ziva wasn't sure she liked on her face.

"Nope Tim, can't you tell," she said, still giving them the same look.

"Can't I tell what?"

"That there's something else on their mind. Just look at them,"

"I thought you were a forensic scientist Abby not a psychologist," Tony asked, bringing the focal point back to him and Ziva.

"Oh I am, but I can tell there's no case. You would have just called McGee or brought evidence with you if you were coming down here," Abby revealed making the other three nod in agreement, "So what is it?"

"We, that is to say Tony and I," Ziva started before trailing off slightly worried about what her friends' reactions would be.

"You guys finally did it?" McGee broke the silence, having a fairly good guess about what was going on.

"They finally did what Tim? I'm lost," Abby confessed.

"Okay, you're good Tim I'll give you that. But how on earth do you know that?" Tony asked, thinking that maybe Gibbs wasn't the only one who knew that there was something going on between him and Ziva before they did.

"It's hardly a big secret Tony. Don't tell me you thought that nobody knows?" McGee asked.

"About you two?" Abby interrupted, "Seriously Tony, everyone knows that," she agreed with McGee.

"Are you saying that you know Tony and I are together?" Ziva asked, noticing Tony's shaking head too late.

Predictably the first thing that Abby did upon hearing this was let out a squeal and pull Ziva in for a hug. "Really! That's amazing! I'm so happy for you two!"

McGee's response was slightly more controlled but there was no denying that he was happy that his team mates had finally gotten their act together. He expressed this by clapping Tony on the back and asked, "So is this it now? No more dancing around each other?"

"No. We are done with the chasing," Ziva told him in a soft voice.

"Well then, I'm happy for you both. Maybe I'll be able to get my work done now." He exclaimed accompanied with an exaggerated sigh of relief, "and on that note, I'm going to go finish my work." He finished, leaving the lab with one last smile at the three of them left in there.

"Yeah because we're really not going to flirt with each other now!" Tony called after him, making everyone laugh.

Reaching for Ziva, Tony told Abby that they too had to leave now and they headed towards the elevator hand in hand – figuring they were safe enough now that Gibbs, Abby and McGee knew. However they hadn't factored in Ducky or Palmer and sods law dictated that they were to run into one of them. Sure enough, walking out towards the stairs (they figured McGee would have taken the elevator) they bumped in to Palmer who was obviously in a rush to get something to Abby. He took one look at the pairs joined hands, muttered his apologies and ran off again his face burning.

Tony sighed and turned to Ziva, "do you get the feeling that the whole office is gonna know about this by the end of the day?"

To be honest this thought terrified Ziva, though it was not as if she had not been the topic for office gossip before, but looking into Tony's eyes and seeing only concern for her she couldn't help but smile, "I know," she sighed lightly back, "but it does not matter does it? We will get through it, just like we always get through it."

"As long as we have each other eh?" Tony chuckled, "Isn't that how it goes?"

"I do not know about how it goes, but I do know that we do not have much to worry about," Ziva replied, the meaning lost on her, "and I also know that we should probably get back to work."

Tony nodded his agreement and hand in hand they headed back upstairs, ready to face the rest of the day as the main source of office gossip.

**And that's it. Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, favourite and reviewed it. I would really like to hear your final thoughts on this chapter and the whole thing.**


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